ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the development of local Non-governmental organizations (NGO) in the countries of South Asia. It looks at international NGOs working in these countries to the extent they include local NGOs, or locally registered counterparts, whereby international NGOs ‘spin off’ local autonomous counterparts as part of confederation arrangements. The chapter also looks at the development and situation of NGOs in each of the four major countries of South Asia India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, their regional interactions and their links to international organisations. The chapter examines the situation in Nepal and Bhutan where the development of local NGOs, and there has been relatively little research. NGOs in South Asia are as diverse as the countries of the region. While Bangladeshi NGOs share a common history with their Indian counterparts as part of British India up until partition in 1947, Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1972 led to a unique process of NGO development.
